A couple of PBEM games I started sputtered to a stop after a couple of turns and I was leery of committing time and effort into an AAR until I was sure this one was a keeper, from the looks of things it looks like it is. My opponent is CT Grognard (CTG), a fairly active member of the forums, I'm looking forward to the fight as it's DBB, version C to boot and to cap it all CTG started off with some fairly aggressive moves.

House Rules as follows, shamelessly lifted from Fletcher's AAR /tip of the hat to Fletcher Inactive HRs in red. will update HRs as game time passes or events happen to make certain HRs irrelevant.

GENERAL - IJAAF units must operate with IJAAF aviation support and IJNAF must operate with IJNAF aviation support - The only IJAAF plane that may be used in an ASW role is the Ki-51 (to reflect historical use) - Kido Butai will make a single port attack on Pearl Harbor, and will return directly to Japan; if the first assault on Wake by Japan fails, the Japanese player may divert KB to support a second assault - Americans cannot react to the landings at Tarawa, Wake and Makin; once the first landings take place the Americans are relieved from this rule (if no landings occur, by 14 December 1941) - Manila and Singapore may have fighters up and on CAP on the 1st turn, but the Allied player cannot transfer any squadrons on the first turn - The Allied player may give alternate orders to Force Z on the 1st turn. All other Allied TFs may not have their destinations/mission amended; no new Allied TFs may be created on the 1st turn - Japanese submarines can only be equipped with the E14Y1 Glen - No partial parachute deployments (i.e. one unit, one target) - No submarine invasions (with one exception, Marine Raiders on SST submarines) - All PT boats in a hex must be in the same TF - 4E bombers cannot operate on Naval Attack below 10,000 ft - 4E bombers (excluding B-29s) can operate on Ground Attack in hexes that do not have Allied units in them (i.e. cannot be used as close air support). B-29s cannot be used on Ground Attack at all. - No strategic bombing by either side (oil, resources, HI, LI, manpower) until July 1943 - No night bombing allowed if moonlight is less than 50% (except for B-29s (ground-mapping radar)) - The minimum altitude for night bombing is 3000 feet - Fighters may only fly sweeps or CAP in either their best or second best maneuver altitude bands - Japanese surface ships cannot transit the Malacca Strait until Singapore has fallen - The atomic bomb may not be used on Tokyo - Commonwealth land and air units may only operate to liberate Commonwealth possessions as well as the Dutch East Indies – i.e. British, Indian, Dutch, Australian and New Zealand units are limited to Australia, New Zealand, India, Burma, Malaya, New Guinea, New Britain, the Solomons, New Hebrides, Fiji, Tonga, Samao etc and the whole of the Dutch East Indies)

MONSOON RULE - From 15 May to 15 October each year (Monsoon Season) offensive operations in the jungle and mountain hexes on the Burmese front (everything above “Thailand” label within Burma and Thailand borders plus the few jungle hexes going 3 or 4 hexes into “India” – Kohima, Ledo, Imphal area) is highly restricted: - No shock or deliberate attacks in jungle hexes within the area; - Deliberate attacks allowed in non-jungle hexes; - Bombardment attacks allowed everywhere; - Movement into friendly/empty hexes allowed - The percentage of aircraft allowed to fly from an airfield in this region during this time is a factor of its size*10% (so an air unit flying from a level 2 airfield can only fly 20% of its aircraft, and must set Rest to 80%) - No carrier aircraft strikes on Burma from the Gulf of Bengal during this time (however, carrier aircraft can still strike Bengal, Northern India or Malaya from carriers in the Gulf of Bengal)

CHINESE THEATRE: - No industry bombing in Chinese bases by either side (reflecting dispersed artisanal light industry), but bombing “manpower” is allowed. - A maximum of 4 squadrons of US four-engine bombers may operate from Chinese bases, but only from level 6 airfields or higher, and the aviation support must be provided by an American unit. - Chinese forces (and air units) cannot go outside its borders except those assigned to the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma/Northern Combat Area Command - The NCAC shall be limited to four Chinese Corps (12 Chinese Divisions) and one Chinese squadron (to reflect historical deployment of 17th Pursuit Squadron (I-153s)) and may only enter Burma once Rangoon has fallen to the Japanese - The AVG may operate in Burma and China only

KWANTUNG ARMY - Units must pay PPs to cross the Kwantung border - The Japanese player may buy out artillery units to a maximum of 1 artillery regiment for every 3 infantry regiments who have already paid the PPs to exit (i.e. no stripping of artillery units only) - No Kwantung HQs may be bought out until 1944 or the invasion of the Marianas, the liberation of Rangoon or the occupation of a base in the DEI with a level 4 airfield or higher - No air units may be moved out of Kwantung until June 1942; from then one daitai may be moved per month but subject always to a minimum of 4 fighter daitai and 8 bomber daitai. This does not prevent air operations from Kwangtung to China. - If the Japanese player decides to invade the Soviet Union, he must invade Soviet territory in an unoccupied hex to activate and may then only begin offensive operations a week later (to reflect the excellent intelligence assets the Soviets had in the Japanese government which would preclude strategic surprise). - Once the Soviets are activated, no Japanese unit in Kwantung may get an HQ reassignment, except isolated units can be evacuated by sea.

DUTCH EAST INDIES - Dutch air units cannot be disbanded nor can they be withdrawn. - Dutch surface vessels may operate in Indian Ocean waters or between Australia and New Guinea, but not the Pacific. - Dutch submarines can only operate between the South China Sea and northern Australia (i.e. off Malaya, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes and Timor) - Garrison requirements must be observed by the Allied player - No strategic bombing in the DEI until 1944 - IJA units need a minimum of 25 planning points to amphibiously land at/parachute into an enemy-held DEI base (not needed for IJN units)

PHILIPPINES - All US units in the Philippines must have replacements OFF - Allied air units in the Philippines may not receive replacement aircraft other than by disbanding other Philippine-based air units into those units - Philippine-based air units may not be disbanded or withdrawn in a manner that would result in the transfer of aircraft or the pilots back into the aircraft or pilot pools; if the unit is withdrawn, the Allied pilot must answer “NO” to the reform unit in x days question - Manila is an open city; as such the Allied player may not build additional fortifications and must retreat from the city once the Japanese reaches the city; the Japanese player can only take Manila as part of a general advance (of at least two divisions strength) from the north, south or east of Luzon. Once Japan has conquered all of Luzon, Manila is no longer an open city - There is no restriction on the Allied player using surface or air transport at any time to move supplies or troops in or out of the Philippines - Submarine transport missions by the Allied player may only be used to resupply and evacuate cut-off or isolated Allied units, or Bataan (once the Allied players have retreated there)

AUSTRALIA - The Japanese player may only invade Australia once Timor, Ambon, Kendari, Mindanao, Batavia and Soerabaja are in Japanese hands and once he has saved a reserve of 3000 political points. These political points should be kept in reserve until (1) the capture of all ports in northern Australia (Port Hedland; Broome; Derby; Wyndham; Darwin) or (2) the capture of Perth, or Sydney, or Brisbane - IJA units invading Australia need a minimum of 80 preparation points (not needed for IJN units) - If Australia is invaded, the Allied player may not spend PPs on anything except sending forces to Australia by any means or medium, whether land or air force (with the exception of reassigning leaders) - Australian CMF units may only operate in Australia and Papua New Guinea

INDIA AND CEYLON - No Restricted Allied unit in India may change its command area until 1 January 1943. PPs need to be paid in order for units to leave India (this is to reflect the large number of British troops required in India to suppress the “Quit India” movement as well as the Indian National Army guerrilla activities). - If Japanese forces cross the border into India, British and Commonwealth units may only spend political points to send reinforcement units to India - The Japanese player will need a reserve of 4000 political points in order to invade India; this must be maintained until the capture of Calcutta, Bombay, Colombo or Trincomalee - Any IJA units invading India or Ceylon must have at least 80 preparation points

THAILAND - Thai ground forces may invade Burma but are limited to east of the Salween river (i.e. the only bases it includes are Mergui, Victoria Point and Moulmein) - US ground forces may not enter Thailand, but US air forces are able to bomb Thailand (the USA never declared war on Thailand)

ROYAL NAVY - Until September 1942 no RN capital ships (CV, CVL, BB or BC) may operate in the Pacific (except for repairs, transit to ports in the US and return from them) - From 1 January 1943 a single capital ship may operate in the Pacific (as was the case with HMS Victorious in the Solomons campaign) - From 1 January 1945 the Royal Navy may operate freely in the Pacific (once assigned to the Pacific Fleet under US command)

Significant events Page 1 of the AAR 7 Dec 1941 - Air raid on Pearl Harbor sinks Nevada and Tennessee, with Pennsylvania eventually succumbing to fires a couple of days later. The Philippines and Malaya are invaded. CTG goes long and invades bases like Puerto Princessa and Singkawang from the word go. Repulse is torpedoed just off Singapore, she suffers moderate damage. 9 Dec 1941 - Boise sinks CVL Ryujo in the Celebes Sea before being sunk herself. Tarawa falls. 11 Dec 1941 - Wake Island falls. 12 Dec 1941 - Guam falls. 18 Dec 1941 - Hong Kong falls. 18-24 Dec 1941 - Chinese troops attempt to take Ichang but are bloodily repulsed suffering heavy casualties. 27 Dec 1941 - First major Allied success of the war, invasion convoy destroyed off Ambon by Force Z. 29 Jan 1941 - 1 Jan 1942 - IJA troops make an unsuccessful attempt to take Changsha and are thrown back with heavy losses. Page 2 of the AAR 2 Jan 1942 - An element of KB (4 CVs) appears off the east coast of Australia, presumably on a raiding run, they sink a convoy of 8 merchant ships unloading supplies at Noumea. 4 Jan 1942 - Battle of Timor Sea. A portion of the ABDA fleet intercepts and engages 3 IJN CVs raiding Darwin, they inflict light damage on the enemy TF and are later decimated by retaliatory air strikes launched from the CVs, suffering the loss of Tromp and 9 DDs (6 Dutch, 2 US and 1 British). With this loss, ABDA ceases to exists as a viable fighting force. Another attempt to break the blockade on 6 Jan results in heavy losses to the remnants of the fleet. 6 Jan 1942 - Malaya completely occupied by the Empire of Japan. 7 Jan 1942 - 14 Jan 1942 Darwin Turkey Shoot. Counting losses including warships that were lost in the Battle of Timor Sea and ships sinking in port and at sea post KB departure of the Darwin area, the Allies have lost a total of 2 CAs, 7 CLs and 19 DDs in addition to upwards of 60 non-combatants/auxiliaries when elements of KB (split into 2 TFs) together with significant IJN surface forces blockaded and proceeded to bomb Darwin harbour over the course of a week of game time. A more detailed writeup of losses is included in the daily report of 27 Jan 1942. Clark Field falls, Bataan is the only Allied base left on Luzon. 12 Jan 1942 - Japanese move into Singapore and begin the reduction of the garrison. 15 Jan 1942 - Moulmein falls. The invasion of Burma begins in earnest. Page 3 of the AAR 21 Jan 1942 - Bataan falls. Organized resistance in the Philippines ceases. 27 Jan 1942 - Ternate, Tarakan and Ambon fall. 28 Jan 1942 - Rangoon falls. Palembang under siege. Page 4 of the AAR 7 Feb 1942 - Japanese forces invade New Britain 10 Feb 1942 - Rabaul falls. 13 Feb 1942 - Surrender of Singapore 18 Feb 1942 - Capture of Port Moresby 20 Feb 1942 - Koepang overrun. Page 5 of the AAR 6 Mar 1942 - Palembang overrun, production facilities appear to have suffered little to no damage. 7 Mar 1942 - Invasion of Java, landings at Kalidjati. Dutch AF sustains heavy casualties trying to interdict the invasion fleet. Page 6 of the AAR 12 Mar 1942 - Batavia captured. 25 Feb - 20 Mar 1942 - KB goes on a deep penetration raid of the US-ANZAC SLOC, starting with a raid on Noumea and sailing past Suva and Pago Pago before turning back near Christmas Island KB's flyers sink 1 DD, 3 xAP, 3 xAK, 1 TK and 5 AO Page 10 of the AAR 30 May 1942 - Battle of Tabiteuea. The first carrier battle of the war, fought when USN CVs covering an invasion force bound for Tabiteuea clashed with Kido Butai. 25 June 1942 - USN CVs raid Tabiteuea Page 11 of the AAR 12 July 1942 - USN CVs raid Guadalcanal 23 July 1942 - USN CVs raid Guadalcanal for a second time. Possibly sinking Mutsu 31 July 1942 - IJN battle line bombards Ndeni airfield, causing heavy casualties and destroying large amounts of material 7 August 1942 - Empire of Japan invades Ndeni Page 12 of the AAR 20 August 1942 - Battle of New Hebrides, loss of Princess of Wales, Repulse and Ramillies. Wasp heavily damaged. 29 August 1942 - Empire of Japan invades Efate. 5 Sept 1942 - Heavy losses sustained on both sides in the past month in the process of attacking/defending Ndeni/Efate. Page 13 of the AAR

Just sent off the turn for 14 Dec 1941 and here's how things are looking from my end of the playing field. It's far from a complete retelling of events so I'll just fill in the holes as the turns come along from here on end.

What the Empire of Japan has been up to CTG's attack on Pearl Harbor was the worst I've ever experienced in all my PBEM games thus far. Nevada and Tennessee went down straight away and I lost Pennsylvania to fire a couple of turns ago. Other than that, I'm looking at major yard time (approx 12 months, with California showing 2 years for repair time) for 4 of the remaining 5 BBs, a couple of cruisers and DDs got smacked around but thankfully that's about it. On the bright side, my airfields were not touched and for the first time ever in a PBEM game (see the trend here?), I have an intact Hawaiian Airforce, more importantly my Cat squadrons are available to be my LR eyes and ears in CENPAC.

The Philippines A couple of notable opening moves here, the first of which was an alpha strike on Clark Field on turn 1, bascially obliterating the airfield. I was pretty amused by the use of upwards of a 120 bombers in 1 strike as in our email conversations leading up to the game I had the impression that CTG was the sort of player who was going to be hamstringing himself in a bid to play as close to historical as possible. The first week of the war has put paid to that impression, CF has been plastered every day since day 1, CTG means to let it stay shut down. Further south in Mindanao, carrier aircraft from what could only be the IJN CVLs smoked the 2 B-17 squadrons based out of Cagayan, I never had a chance to fly a single bomber from out of there, the bombers were damaged on day 1 and stayed that way till the base was overrun. The air attack was followed up by a naval bombardment centred on 3 CAs which really hammered the base and caused quite a few casualties to the LCUs there. And to round off my misery, Puerto Princessa was also assaulted on turn 1. The man has a plan and he's not slow in putting it in motion.

In the air, I let my P-40s get slaughtered by A6M sweeps losing around 30 odd frames for kill claims of basically zip. Am resting the survivors and thinking of ways to annoy my opponent with what I have left, HRs in effect with regards to my units in the PI do kind of tie one hand behind my back.

The exodus of ships from the PI has been somewhat of a mixed bag. Boise ate Ryujo for breakfast and had at least 1 DD for seconds before succumbing to the inevitable Long Lance barrage from Ryujo's screen so I'm pretty happy with that exchange considering I thought I was sending her in to scalp an invasion TF. I'm sure my opponent has more details of the flattop's demise so I'll skip right along. Apart from that, I've lost upwards of an even 2 dozen merchies in the run south to Java, most of them died in the Celebes Sea after being intercepted by SAGs. To be honest, I'm not much hurt by my losses so far, even with the 30% cut in cargo capacities I know I'll be rolling in merchies by end '42. The important ships are intact and have been incredibly lucky in not running into an IJN SAG and just a turn or two more and they'll be in relatively safe waters.

Borneo Moving to Borneo, Sinkawang was invaded on turn 1 so no lack of pace on this side of the South China Sea. The airfield is currently host to 40odd A6Ms which means no way the Brit bombers out of Singapore can do anything about anti-shipping work within a 10 hex radius of the place.

A light TF centred on Mauritius pays the place a visit on the last turn looking for easy pickings but runs into 4 DDs and comes away with the flagship and 1 other DD lost in exchange for the Hagikaze

Malaya I'm looking at LCUs just north of the Malayan border and I got kicked out of Kuantan a couple of turns ago, apart from a couple of stay behind riff raff, everything else has Sir Robined to Singapore. The Brit fighters are mostly intact while the level bombers got chewed on pretty good by aforementioned Sinkawang Zeroes a couple of turns ago.

I let Force Z sit in Singapore for turn 1 and was punished for my complacency when Betties laid into Repulse and banged her up bad, she's currently on her way to safer waters for repairs.

DEI A very heavy SAG (basically 2 BBs and half a dozen CAs) came in from the west end of the Java Sea and made it's way to the Makassar Straits, considering the amount of tonnage in that SAG I'm lucky with getting away with losing around 8 merchies to it. It's currently a couple of hexes south of Balikpapan. I set all my Dutch bombers to naval strike but nothing flew so it's just sitting there making a nuisance of itself while I try to get the few remaining merchies in open waters to safe haven. I set all the short legged and 1 hex speed merchies and assorted stuff down south for Darwin, a handful of the the longer legged merchies will stay behind for evac purposes while the majority are making their way for the larger ports of the Indian subcontinent and the US

Sub Wars I have a thing for CVs and their strike craft but something about the subs in AE appeal to me, it's probably due to being schooled in their use by Cannonfodder, my long time PBEM opponent. The man has a brutally efficient ASW training programme and is smart about placement of his ASW assets, having lost over 20 Allied subs in my other PBEM game in the first 6 months of that war before wising up and countering his tactics I do intend to do much better with my subs in this game.

As it's DBB-C, the emphasis will be on merchies and killing them, anything that floats and can carry cargo is a priority for me, as subs deploy from the US they'll go into screening positions in CENPAC but the majority of the subs in the field now will actively hunt in the shipping lanes until the loss of bases make the inevitable long round trips unprofitable.

Philippines One week into the war and the PI is crawling with Japanese LCUs. Landings at Mauban, Lingayen and Davao. The 11th PA Div at San Fernando is going to be trapped. In the air, the bombing of Clark continues and Zeroes sweep the hexes around Clark for opposition but find none.

Malaya and Singapore Zeroes from Sinkawang swept Singapore this turn, I'm showing 23 Buffs downed for 5 Zeroes claimed. Ouch. Staggered CAP altitudes didn't do much to mitigate the slaughter. The 8th Indian Bde is pushed back down the road towards Temuloh by a deliberate attack, holding on for another turn or two before it disintegrates would help it's sister Bde from Kuantan in it's retreat towards Singapore.

CBI Victoria Point was overrun during the last turn and I'm starting to see activity on this front. Sallys visited Mergui but no significant opposition sighted on the road towards Rangoon for now.

Hong Kong is hanging tough after a couple of rounds of deliberate attacks, this last turn saw some bombing of the place but I'm not really paying much attention to it tbh.

DEI Manado is invaded and should fall the next turn, otherwise fairly quiet in this part of the world, that super SAG is still hanging around to the east of Java and making everyone in the area who isn't flying a Japanese flag very nervous.

The KXIV gets on and tops the killboard by stalking Sakura Maru over 2 hexes and puts a total of 4 fish into her side sending her to the bottom of the sea near Cam Ranh Bay while the Sazanami is also put out of her misery by Perch, notable miss of the day goes to the Sculpin and the light cruiser Kashii just off Sinkawang. The waters to the north of PI and around Cam Ranh Bay are target rich for the time being and I'm making hay while the sun shines.

My opponent seems hellbent on running down every single merchie from the PI, together with a comment in an email about rather losing a DD than an AK and at least 1 other instance where he highlighted the loss of a merchie is an invitation to psyops. I could be wrong and he could be running mind games with me but CTG seems rather concerned with merchie losses so I need to maximise my kills in the first few months of the war where he is forced to use his hulls to move troops around, once he takes his targets and establishes his perimeter I would expect him to use land LOCs as much as possible in an effort to save fuel and reduce his exposure to the silent service. Helping him to think I'm of the same mind with regards to merchie losses with the ravaging of the convoy out of Manila can't but help methinks.

Another point I could draw out from this and his use of his super SAG in the Java Sea is the rather bold use of his offensive assets if he thinks there's something out there worth the risk. Don't know if he's projecting his own thoughts on merchies on me or if he's just going for the easy kills. Either way, using his assets to run down ships that I frankly could lose by the bucket load seems like an opportunity to turn boldness into recklessness.

Back to the convoy, of all the ships lost, the Langley and the tankers are the ones that really bite, on the bright side, I have 2 intact AS and a TK I need to save, some of the lame ducks will be offered as sacrificial bait while the rest make a run for it. I'm pretty sure he's going to circle back to finish what he started. Opportunity perhaps? He's gone 2 rounds already and I'm thinking whether I should put my screening DDs into the grinder in a bid to slow him up and use up his ammo while I order up something a little more substantial.

Malaya and Singapore More sweeps by Zeroes over Singapore, evacing my bombers north and south, will fly my Buffs till I've shot my bolt or he closes the airfield, whichever comes first.

CBI Tavoy is bombed

Hong Kong HK bombed but nothing else apart from that, I can't have hurt him that bad. Would be a first in any of my PBEMs.

Philippines Lingayen, Mauban and Tuguegarao fall this turn.

DEI Manado is invaded and taken this turn along with Sambas (hex next to Sinkawang), I'm only just remembering how relatively helpless the Allies are in this part of the world in resisting the advance of the Japanese. Going by the pattern established on the other side of the Indonesian islands I should see Betties and Zeroes pretty soon, it's a good thing most of the Allied shipping has moved out of the area. A couple more bases falling would isolate Java and Sumatra by sea from both the east and west. Time to relocate.

Philippines Have set my remaining P-40s flying out of Bataan on CAP over Clark for the next turn, tweaked the crews a little to get the more experienced pilot in the cockpits, here goes nothing.

Malaya and Singapore Zeroes swept Singapore again this turn but this time they were followed by unescorted Betties and Nells from out of Vietnam, am hoping to catch his bombers the next turn.

Sub Wars I realise that the way I'm showing results of the sub wars seems to indicate that I'm getting a pretty good average when it comes to working USN torpedos, I can assure you this is not the case, will try to report numbers of misses once in a while to keep things in balance.

Stacking Limits In a jarring reminder that this is DBB-C I find myself having to deal with an overcrowded hex or two that I've setup for a last stand in the PI. Supply has plummeted rather drastically the last turn or two, Tracker is giving me some scary numbers. Even a place like Pearl Harbor has stacking limits I have to deal with so no more mega stacks of 50 engineering units during the middle part of the war. Certainly it forces one to give more thought to parceling out units rather than just stacking them at a main node or two till it's time to send them into action.

Lower cargo limits and engineers The sheer number of merchie hulls I'm shepherding to the main supply nodes is staggering, I'm setting up some mid points in the US-Oz supply run with what I have in theatre but most of the merchies start pretty much out of harms way and even then there aren't that many of them. If nothing else I actually have to sit on my hands for a turn or two now waiting for transports to get to where my troops and supplies are waiting. Good times.

The death ride of the Asiatic Fleet And to round it off, here's what's coming in the next round, as you can see the big bad SAG is just north of Flores and very much within striking range of the remnants of the Asiatic Fleet. I'm expecting the SAG to loop around the western end of the island and come looking for ships to sink. You will also notice the rather busy stretch of sea just to the south of Java, them be the collective strength of the Dutch and British merchant marine in the entire Southeast Asia making a run for Oz. The Asiatic Fleet will die no doubt about that, the question is, where will the IJN heavies end up after looping around Flores? Have setup the ships of ABDA that can still fight into 2 TFs and am sending them in to see if I can ding an IJN heavy or two. I've deliberately set speeds for a day engagement rather than a night one as the ABDA ships need all the help they can get, thus begins Operation Death Ride.

DEI Going to rewind a bit, about a week ago game time, the Marblehead and her attached DESRON tried to make a nuisance of themselves by interdicting the IJN invasion fleet unloading at Puerto Princessa, when that didn't work they tried to run interference for the merchies fleeing south from Manila Bay but that didn't go too well either, long story short, the intrepid little flotilla holed up at Tarakan while the CA force was rampaging around the Celebes Sea. Now joined by the Scout which somehow managed to survive running the gauntlet from HK the TF tried making a break for it in the direction of Java in the dead of night.

Now the previous turn showed a TF of CAs 2 hexes off Tarakan, I tried to vector my way around this TF in the hopes of avoiding contact, the TF was set for a high speed run which would see it well on it's way to Java come the morning but in the end it blundered into the 4 DD TF you see instead. All things considered it went pretty well. What the combat report doesn't say is the Allied TF surprised the IJN, much words of praise and thanksgiving were muttered at the end of that contact. The annoying thing is the Allied TF gets spooked and doubles back on Tarakan, the Gods giveth, the Gods taketh away. Once more into the breach for this TF.

Operation Death Ride didn't go off and I'm not sure I'm unhappy about that. The super SAG sank a crippled xAK but didn't get my surviving ships. It's more or less back in the same hex where it started the last turn and recon shows it headed NW, if it comes about across the face of Java I hope to spring a nasty surprise or two.

Sub Wars I must have used my quota of working torps for the month, some choice targets including a largish xAP and xAK are shot at by my subs but nothing connects.

Malaya and Singapore Singapore is swept and bombed, the defenders decide to have tea instead of rising to meet the opposition (read, forgot to set CAP, doh). I'm in a pretty good position relatively speaking, most of III Indian Corps is intact and I've been sneaking in supplies to top up the garrison's stock before the SLOCs get closed for good, only annoying thing is the lack of any meaningful opposition in the air or Singapore will really be a hard nut for CTG to crack, anyways, here's hoping I hold Singapore for a little longer than my other games, usually lose it earlier than historical.

Philippines In somewhat brighter news than is usual on this front, the surviving P-40s of the USAAFE out of Bataan LRcapping Clark work over a bomber raid escorted by Nates, Tracker shows claims of 8 fighters and 7 bombers for 1 ops loss. I'll take that with much happiness after the debacle of the opening days of the war.

CBI Not much change here, Mergui still getting worked over by bombers, some reinforcements have arrived in Rangoon by sea but not much else here to report. Will amplify this theatre in detail when battle is joined.

Hong Kong The intrepid defenders of HK hold out but not for much longer, fort levels drop a notch.

My 2 cents. Which isn't worth much. Merchies are more important now than in other scenarios. The reduced cargo means you have to count every ton the ship can carry. If you loose one ship you might miss out on carrying all your important troops, supplies, etc. Just a thought.

Thanks for the comment and tip, they are always more than welcome. If I listen only to myself talking I will eventually develop tunnel vision. Third party comments help keep me honest. Please do feel free to pipe up when you see fit. Your post got me to relook at my assumptions thus far and well, I didn't like some of what I saw, so my thanks for making me take a second look. This post is for you.

You're right in saying that the 30% reduction in cargo capacity is a game changer all by itself. This game, more than anything else drives home the point about logistics and it's place in war. That said, given the restrictions that we're working with in terms of HRs (some pretty impressive stockpiling of PPs in order to invade India/Oz and the Monsoon rules for example) and due to the way supply flows into the map I'm of the belief the Allies can afford to lose a whole lot more merchies than the Empire of Japan and still be fairly comfortable in supplying the front lines with beans and bullets. I have to say here that what CTG will eventually have going for him is relatively secure internal LOCs and less dependence on ships to move resources so I'll have to switch my subs closer to the front lines over time if I want to whittle down his merchant marine. This aspect of the game is something I'll be looking at with some interest.

Now, supplying fuel is another matter altogether, I'm at the tail end of '43 in my other PBEM and TK/AOs don't get any downtime in port, every tanker is either in transit or unloading/loading and it's a struggle to supply the forward bases with fuel so that's something I'll be keeping in mind, assuming every tanker on the map east of Oz is deployed on the US-Oz supply run just to keep things going, then the deployment of Commonwealth tankers that start on the Indian subcontinent and arrive as reinforcements are key to keeping Oz swimming in enough fuel to sustain offensive ops. I'll share more of what I learnt through some logistical fumbles once things settle down a little.

In the meantime, your comment did force me to relook my losses, some help from Tracker reveals the extent of losses compared to the current Allied inventory and reinforcements (see below)

I'm not a mathematician by any stretch of the imagination but extrapolating the losses for AO/TKs sustained thus far and taking into consideration the number of turns ahead (18 done out of 1,500 turns assuming we go to '45) and you can see I can't afford to lose a single tanker. Take out the short legged YOs and the severity of the losses become more acute. Takes the wind out of my bravado driven sails and adds impetus to the protection of these assets.

To a lesser extent the losses in APs also bear some close watching, in stock a 8 ship division of APAs is enough to lift a MARDIV so I'm expecting to use at least 12 ships in DBB to achieve the same result. As for AKs, I'm not too concerned with losses so far, due to my play style xAKLs don't figure too much in my play unless I have no other options, this will probably change in the course of this game but I will still lean more on the bigger brothers and I've lost 12 of these thus far, mostly in the flight out of Manila and Hong Kong. The Dutch and Brit merchant fleets have been unmolested in their egress out of the warzones.

As a footnote, the notable surface combatants sunk so far include

4 DDs (the 3 brit boats out of HK and a 4 stacker, the Stewart) 3 BBs (all sunk at PH) 2 CLs (Boise and Mauritius)

Malaya and Singapore Zeroes sweep Singapore and munch on fresh Buffalo, 18 Buffs down for 2 claims, the survivors extract some measure of revenge in the following unescorted bomber waves and claim 10 or so Nells. I feel guilty sending up my pixel pilots up against these guys in what looks like an overweight cigar. IJA still well north of KL, the advance will be rapid once he realises I got nothing substantial down the entire length of the peninsula.

Philippines Und P-40s come through again and pounce on some lonely Betties and take down 4 of them. Am concerned about my supply situation, very concerned. I might have skeletons facing the IJA by the time they come into contact.

DEI The super SAG munches on another cripple and the day phase still sees it hanging around Flores, wonder why CTG is just laying there, hope he's not being an advance screen for KB or something, it dropped off just north of Midway and not a peep out of it since turn 4. Force Z (-)(+) and the Dutch fleet are finally spotted by naval search planes and have displaced to safer waters, or rather, waters not scouted by Japanese eyes.

Marblehead Madness The intrepid CL and her consorts run into a 6 ship DD TF in the night and then again in the day phase and comes away with the lone Brit representative sunk after fire was concentrated on her. Wonder if it was something the Brits said. Anyways, the Allies do it much better in daylight and I take comfort in thinking maybe 1 of the IJN DDs might not make it home.

Malaya and Singapore The handful of Buffalos I have left in Singapore do not rise to meet Zeroes sweeping in from Sinkawang.

CBI The daily bombing of Mergui by unescorted bombers is an opportunity for the AVG to take it's first offensive mission, a det operating out of Tavoy messes a couple of Sallys up after missing out on intercepting the first bombing run.

Philippines Zamboanga, on the southern most tip of Mindanao is invaded this turn.

Going Dutch Adm Doorman and his merry men take on the might of the IJN and come away with the Java sunk in exchange for scratching the paint on some heavies and smacking a couple of DDs around, it's a long way home, hope a couple of them sink. After this little interlude, the super SAG stumbles on a slow convoy of 5 stragglers from Tarakan and sinks everything in sight, wonder what his ammo state looks like. Looks like the SAG is heading north into the Celebes Sea, probably heading for Truk to top up his bunkers and magazines.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Balikpapan at 65,100, Range 15,000 Yards

Malaya and Singapore I've withdrawn 488 Squadron south to Java, that's an NZ unit flying Buffalos, since it stays on the map through the end of the game it's in my interest to take good care of units like these so they're actually useful when the more impressive frames come along. The other Brit squadrons stay and continue to get hammered on the ground by the daily bombing runs.

The IJA has finally caught up with the rearguard at Temuloh, just when I thought I could get the 8th Indian Bde away in time, oh well.

CBI All quiet on the B and I fronts, I'm running from Ichang with my tail very much between my legs.

IJN carriers Apart from the first day of the war I have not seen any of the IJN carriers, even accounting for KB returning to Japan like one of our HRs says that still leaves the Zuiho and Ryuho and I haven't seen a peep from them. The relatively safe waters around Java and Sumatra are enabling me to do pretty much as I like with merchant marine and offensive surface assets.

Something I see as an advatage for you is the amount of merchant ships you have. You should also have a little extra time in deploying troops to some locations. The reduced cargo cap should limit his ops in the begining. So you should have time to build up certain advance bases.

Remember there is alot less AV support. Allies get alot of these. If you don't have the stacking limits it could pay off for you in advance bases.

Stupid is letting a PBY squadron get destroyed on the ground because you forgot to move 'em out of the hex the previous turn after seeing enemy LCUs move in. Cost of reconstitution of the squadron? 300 PPs

Japanese forces CAPTURE Manila !!!

Allied aircraft no flights

Allied aircraft losses PBY-4 Catalina: 6 destroyed

Sub Wars An I-boat tries to get past the screen of one of my ABDA SAGs and gets DCed for it's trouble, sink on the way home thanks.

Malaya and Singapore Not exactly in Malaya or Singapore but Brunei is invaded this turn, took CTG long enough, Miri be next I suppose.

DEI An Allied SAG centred around PoW and Houston went looking for trouble and found it. Considering combat opened at 8k yards I'm lucky nothing sank. The good news is Houston got a pretty good kick in her night xp so it's not a total debacle.

Something I see as an advatage for you is the amount of merchant ships you have. You should also have a little extra time in deploying troops to some locations. The reduced cargo cap should limit his ops in the begining. So you should have time to build up certain advance bases.

Remember there is alot less AV support. Allies get alot of these. If you don't have the stacking limits it could pay off for you in advance bases.

Have you thought about an MLR yet.

Time will tell as to how badly the reduced cargo caps work affect each side as we transition through the different stages of the war. As this point in time I have the LCUs to start building up some line-in-the-sand bases but transport, particularly APs are in short supply.

One thing I was quite surprised about was the generous AV support the US has, I've got literally a dozen full strength Base Groups ready to deploy, just waiting on PPs, transport and planes to service.

As to MLRs, to the east of the map I have a couple of bases in mind that are in the must hold category, mainly to make it easier to keep the US-ANZAC SLOC open, bases like New Caledonia, Fiji and Pago Pago for example. As for Asia, obviously the Indian border, keeping the IJA as far away from Chungking and Chinese industry would be my priorities there. Depending on the situation on the ground when my reinforcements reach where their destinations I might shift these 'targets' a little closer to Japan if I think I can keep them supplied and reinforced relatively safely, otherwise I'm of the thinking the more area CTG has to hold, the higher the chance I'll find a weak spot. The DEI being a prime example, the multitude of bases can be a double edged sword depending on how extensively (or not) an IJ player consolidates the area after securing it.

The fun for me at this point is to figure out how to use in theatre assets to harass CTG as much as I can without suffering too many losses, little stingers like the AVG ambushing the unescorted bombers and the unmasking of the PoW and Houston will make him overprotect his invasion convoys at the very least, anything to slow down the rate of advance. The total lack of sightings of any IJN CV assets is still at the back of my head at all times though.

An absolutely First Class AAR. I really like your presentation style - especially the level of detail that it contains; and have enjoyed reading through the AAR. I also like the House Rules, as I also am a very historical kind of guy.

An absolutely First Class AAR. I really like your presentation style - especially the level of detail that it contains; and have enjoyed reading through the AAR. I also like the House Rules, as I also am a very historical kind of guy.

Will follow closely, especially since this is Babes 28C.

The best to you and your opponent!

Mac

Hi Mac,

Thank you dropping by and for the very kind words. Will endeavour to keep things interesting in the daily posts.

Malaya and Singapore Nells and Betties drop by for their daily visit, I'm sitting pretty on about 75k supplies so Singapore should fall before I run out of beans and bullets. Thus far the engineers are keeping pace with the damage inflicted and fort levels are climbing slowly, should have at least fort 3 by the time the IJA comes knocking at Singapore's doors.

I sent 3 Brit DDs out of Singapore on a quick dash and smash into Singkawang, going in at full speed to strike and back in port by morning. I wasn't really expecting much, an odd xAK or two would have been nice, mainly just to keep CTG honest.

As you can see, I didn't exactly get what I was looking for. Of the 3 DDs I had to lose Jupiter, the most modern of the lot. Then again, looking at what I blundered into I should be happy I have anything left afloat.

DEI A gaggle of HDMLs and xAKLs running south from Palembang to Batavia got intercepted by 2 IJN DDs, 1 of the xAKLs miraculously survives being sunk.

Kendari is invaded this turn, it's pretty much obvious that CTG intends to box me in on Java and Sumatra. The question is, now that he's going to take Kendari, will he come further south to take Timor before turning inwards for the prize or will he start blanketing the area with Betties and turn the screws now?

Speaking of which, I have yet to see any Betty attacks on my SAGs, the Dutch fleet went on a fairly deep sweep of the Celebes Sea and was in the middle of the ocean when daylight broke but I wasn't molested in any way. I didn't manage to find or sink anything but that's another story.

The lack of infrastructure support (fuel) to the east of Java means the ABDA fleet is on a pretty short leash when it comes to defensive patrols so my ability to run interference is dictated by how far my ships can range before they're skosh fuel, apart from Houston everything else has relatively short legs, which may not be a bad thing considering my surface action record thus far.

With the surface action at Singkawang and the damage sustained by some of the CLs and DDs of ABDA in earlier actions and with the imminent fall of Kendari I am now moving PoW and Houston out of Java and south to Darwin, I still have some light forces in the area but nothing bigger than a CL.

Malaya and Singapore Air attacks on Georgetown (Penang) and Temuloh this turn, none on Singapore itself. Georgetown is invaded and taken. Kuantan is invaded. Nothing but a base force left there and a road that leads nowhere given the current tactical situation so the nett effect would be CTG gains a decent airfield well within striking distance of Singapore...oh.

CBI About the most significant event of this relatively quiet turn would be that I've been ejected from Ichang, expensive little adventure this. On hindsight, probably not a good idea to have gone ahead with this little expedition considering I don't really gain anything. There are days when I wonder how I manage not to hurt myself just by thinking during the course of the day.

Meanwhile, on the Indian subcontinent, the merchant shipping in the area is in the closing stages of consolidation at Karachi, the longer ranged merchies have either been dispatched to the US or Aden, the latter to await the arrival of the Australian divisions due in slightly over a month's time. Tankers are already filling their bunkers at Abadan.

Philippines Nothing much has been happening here the past couple of turns, my opponent's efforts have been concentrated on taking bases in Mindanao, CTG is clearly in no rush to take Luzon, perhaps he's waiting for my supplies to run out so Bataan and Clark will be easy pickings.

DEI Kendari should fall by the next turn, fort levels got reduced to 0 this turn. The DEI is now mostly empty of Allied shipping although I am taking the opportunity to siphon fuel off while the area is relatively quiet for the time being.

SWPAC Like in Karachi, Darwin has been the assembly point for merchant shipping in the DEI area, from here they're dispatched to either Sydney or Suva with a handful going directly to the US. Some of the critical auxiliaries like Black Hawk, together with Otus and Holland are moving on down to relatively safer waters at Sydney/Brisbane. The assorted riff raff that is the Dutch Navy's auxiliaries, of which there are a pair of AS included, will remain in Darwin in support of operations in the area.

Sub War Subs on both sides seem to have hit some sort of bare patch, few if any engagements these past few turns. Most of the IJN subs which started in PH are still hanging around the area and I get sightings on at least 5 to the north of PH and maybe 1 or 2 to the south every turn from Cats flying out of PH. Apart from PH, I've spotted a handful of subs in the Java Sea but nothing beyond that. Most of the rest of the Pacific Ocean and all of the Indian Ocean is IJN sub free so I'm making the most of it by running unescorted merchant shipping, albeit taking more out of the way routes just to be sure.

On the Allied side, most of the Dutch subs are working in and around the Java Sea with the Brits and US subs clustered around Malaya, off Cam Ranh Bay and around Formosa. I seem to have run out of unsuspecting IJN shipping running over my positions so am going to move some of the US subs over to the area between the DEI and PNG, firstly to setup a forward early warning screen of any ship movement and secondly to see if I can catch some of the invasion convoys that will surely be pushing on PNG soonish.

CBI The Sallies are back over Mergui again this round, have moved part of the AVG into China to try and see if I disrupt some of the bombing attacks on my LCUs, can't keep giving away freebies

DEI Palembang got swept this turn so I should be seeing action on this side of the Java Sea soonish.

It's not part of the DEI but it's a good place to put as any. Miri is invaded this turn and Kendari falls.

Another relatively quiet turn, feels like after having fought out the initial phase of the conflict both sides are now gathering themselves for the next push and counter.

Sub War Looks like that super SAG put in at Hong Kong, Permit took a shot at Mogami but nothing came out of it while S-40 got sighted by escorts before even getting into firing position, don't know whether I caught it moving into port or out, if out I'd kill to find out where they're going. Would give some clues as to where the next blow will land. Off Singkawang Sculpin took a shot at a light SAG so it seems things are on the move.

Lookee here Allied SIGINT has been a mixed bag for me in this game thus far, most of the reports I've gotten have been to state the obvious. ie. so and so unit planning for Singapore but the past two turns I've gotten these.

4/2nd Field Artillery Regiment is planning for an attack on Mersing. 2/2nd Recon Regiment is loaded on a Aden Cargo class xAK moving to Mersing. 56th Recon Regiment is loaded on a Japanese xAK moving to Mersing.

It's a pity I only have subs in the area but this close to Singapore I'd expect a heavy screen so it'll just have to be subs then.

Picked up some heavy activity around Kendari and also what looks like an invasion force going somewhere. I've got Force Z (-)(+) heading for Darwin and looking around the area Ambon seems a likely target so a speed run there it is. If I'm right I'll only get there during the day phase after the troops after unloaded but the hope is I'll sink every last one of the transports since the Brits do it better in the day. I'm not going to bother with the ships near Kendari as the past couple of turns have shown me the folly of engaging targets with less than adequate recon so I'll just do the dastardly thing and hope to ambush some hapless invasion TF, here's to not getting egg on one's face.

Without a doubt the best day the Allies have had since the start of the war but we'll get to that a little later. I only have the combat replay as my opponent forgot to save the turn (been there, done that...many times) so will update more of the turn once I get it back a little later on today.

Sub Wars An I boat spots a YO just off LA but decides to pass on taking a shot, I can't think of a better way to announce the presence of IJN boats off the West Coast, will have to start escorting my merchies, some of them have been running up and down the coast without any protection.

O20 puts one in the side of xAP Taizan Maru off Soc Trang, glugglugglug sounds are heard so I'm chalking up this one as a kill.

Rule Britannia Never in my wildest imagination did I expect to Force Z to do as well as it did. Really lucked out this turn. The enemy fleet was indeed an invasion fleet and was heading for Ambon. Betties didn't appear from out of Manado to sink every Allied ship in sight but that was a calculated risk which had a good chance of going my way since the Dutch SAG was unmolested when it pushed into the Celebes Sea a couple of turns ago. Unloading of the invasion troops didn't occur during the night phase so it was with crowded decks that the IJN fleet met the pride of the British Far East Squadron and her consorts.

Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching! Japanese TF suspends unloading operations and begins to get underway Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions: 30,000 yards CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 24,000 yards Allies open fire on surprised Japanese ships at 24,000 yards

All due respect to CTG and what must be a bad start to his day (he usually sends a turn before he goes to work) but I'm sure I speak for most when I say it's turns like these we live for as PBEM players. Outstanding result all round, the loss of whatever those merchies were carrying will sting him badly in the short term, the merchies themselves are gone for good and taking out DDs to spread his ASW assets thin is always a good thing.

It didn't come cheap though, from the looks of things Force Z's screen has ceased to be a viable fighting force, will have to scrounge up some more DDs and I'm running low on those in the immediate area. Will probably retire Force Z for repairs and PoW's upcoming refit and swap in the ANZAC cruisers to stand guard off Darwin. I might have to leave behind a couple of stragglers for some very pissed off pursuers as I high tail it out of there back to safer waters.

Relatively quiet turn so I'll take the chance to do a little more detailed post.

Malaya and Singapore The IJA is just north of KL with both the road to Kota Bahru and Thailand crawling with troops, their advance has been slow due to the nature of the road network but should go faster after they capture KL, everything south of there is good road and I expect the IJA to be in Johor in force no later than the middle of January, which means Singapore should fall before February rolls around.

The Philppines Really screwed up big time in the PI, overstacked Bataan and I've basically blown through all the supply, am pushing some units forward to Clark and will probably attack one of the weaker adjacent hexes in a bid to both throw CTG off balance and to steal some supplies if I can overrun the IJA there. Mindanao is also being steadily reduced as bases fall one by one. Overall very disappointed with my performance here, considering I was given ample breathing space to setup my defences I stuffed it up with the overstacking.

DEI And that brings us to the meat of the pie, the Dutch have been unmolested in Sumatra and Java and air units are training up for naval attack all ready to go out in a blaze of glory when the invasion TFs make their move while LCUs are preparing defences and a redoubt as a last stand.

The lack of engineers that can build forts has ensured that till now Palembang is still at fort level 0, I'm sure I'll pay for the lack of foresight soon enough. On Java Island itself the idea here will be to tie up as many assets as possible for as long as possible and prep levels are building nicely, no chance of any local counterattacks here though, reckon I'm looking at slightly over 500 AV for all the combat LCUs on Java and a single IJA division can take me on with no problems so I'll be relying on forts and terrain to make it costly to dig me out of the holes I'm digging (either that or bury me where I stand).

The Dutch fleet together with a couple of American and British destroyers will stay in local waters till it is untenable to do so or until the majority get sunk, I'll stay true to the spirit of the game but I won't throw ships away needlessly.

CBI The Flying Tigers make their first appearance in the skies over China when they ambush some bombers over Wuchow, Tracker reports 25 bombers downed, the objective here is to sting CTG when he leaves himself vulnerable, scoring some cheap shots in the process but more importantly making him escort everything that flies.

A stack of IJA has moved into Changsha, I'm hoping he'll find that Changsha is a different ball game from Ichang, I've got 2.5k AV in the hex sitting behind level 4 forts with another 1.5k AV 2 turns away, I'm hoping a bloody nose at Changsha will give him pause and be a little more circumspect in his advances as I'm thin everywhere else and need time to consolidate.

I'm looking at holding cities like Nanyang and Loyang with a skeletal force and pulling back the bulk of my troops into more defensible terrain, counting on stacking limits to work both ways here.

Looks like Burma soon and either CTG is shoring up the northern approach to the Home Islands or he's planning on making a move on the Aleutians. We'll see if we pick up any more whispers.

Enemy Carriers spotted What looks like KB is spotted off Samar, that'll be the first sighting of KB since PH. KB had to return to Japan after PH as per one of our HRs and it looks like CTG did just that and is now making his way down to the DEI to ensure that things stay on track for the Empire of Japan. There isn't much left to hunt in the DEI so KB can hang around as much as it wants, it's if it comes further south where the sea lanes are a little crowded right now that I'll be a whole lot more concerned.

Sub WarsShark and Tambor shoot their entire loadout at separate xAK targets but all of them either miss or fail to explode, feeling slightly miffed, the pixel captains surface and proceed to engage their targets but do nothing more than make their IJN counterparts soil their underwear.

Malaya and Singapore The beaches of Mersing inflict more casualties on the IJA than I'll ever can.

17 troops of a IJA Engineer Squad accidentally lost during unload of 56th Engr Rgt 20 troops of a IJA Hy Inf Sqd 41 lost in surf during unload of 4th Infantry Rgt /1 7.7mm T99 AAMG dropped into water during unload of 2nd Engr Rgt 17 troops of a IJA Engineer Squad lost in surf during unload of 2nd Engr Rgt 20 troops of a IJA Hy Inf Sqd 41 lost overboard during unload of 4th Infantry Rgt /2 20 troops of a IJA Hy Inf Sqd 41 lost in surf during unload of 4th Infantry Rgt 15 Support troops lost from landing craft during unload of 4th Infantry Rgt 15 Support troops accidentally lost during unload of 4th Infantry Rgt 15 Support troops lost overboard during unload of 4th Infantry Rgt 15 Support troops lost from landing craft during unload of 4th Infantry Rgt 17 troops of a IJA Inf Squad lost from landing craft during unload of 113th Infantry Rgt /1 12 troops of a IJA HMG Section lost from landing craft during unload of 113th Infantry Rgt /1 17 troops of a IJA Inf Squad lost overboard during unload of 148th Infantry Rgt /1 15 Support troops lost from landing craft during unload of 148th Infantry Rgt /1 17 troops of a IJA Inf Squad accidentally lost during unload of 148th Infantry Rgt 15 Support troops lost overboard during unload of 148th Infantry Rgt 17 troops of a IJA Inf Squad accidentally lost during unload of 113th Infantry Rgt 15 Support troops lost in surf during unload of 113th Infantry Rgt 15 Support troops lost in surf during unload of 113th Infantry Rgt Motorized Support lost from landing craft during unload of 2nd Recon Rgt

Nice defence at Changsha, Arnhem. Changsha has significant industry so it is worth fighting for. Can't remember if it has good terrain on the route up toward Changteh, but I recall needing to prevent the IJA from surrounding me when I had a stack at Changsha.

Speaking of stacking, I installed the new official version and searched the manual re: stacking and the only references were about stacking over island size limits. Surely Bataan is unrestricted in size? I have been socking multi units into unrestricted island bases like Rabaul, Ponape and Kavieng without any indication of problems so far. What, then are the new rules on stacking in an unrestricted or non-base hex?

Another question - was wondering what the fate of all those Force Z ships was after your recent victory. How many were lost to their damage, which have made port and which are limping along?

Last question - I swear! I like your avatar but Pegasus did not have a horn and Unicorns had no wings. How did you get them to cross-breed?

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I have not yet begun to fight! OTOH I have not yet begun to flee. Hmmmmm - choices, choices -always with the choices.

Nice defence at Changsha, Arnhem. Changsha has significant industry so it is worth fighting for. Can't remember if it has good terrain on the route up toward Changteh, but I recall needing to prevent the IJA from surrounding me when I had a stack at Changsha.

Speaking of stacking, I installed the new official version and searched the manual re: stacking and the only references were about stacking over island size limits. Surely Bataan is unrestricted in size? I have been socking multi units into unrestricted island bases like Rabaul, Ponape and Kavieng without any indication of problems so far. What, then are the new rules on stacking in an unrestricted or non-base hex?

Another question - was wondering what the fate of all those Force Z ships was after your recent victory. How many were lost to their damage, which have made port and which are limping along?

Last question - I swear! I like your avatar but Pegasus did not have a horn and Unicorns had no wings. How did you get them to cross-breed?

Hey BBfanboy,

Thanks for dropping by!

I can't claim credit for Changsha, CTG did all the work. It starts out as a tough nut to crack all by itself because of the garrison and fort levels, think it has something like fort 2 at start and that IJA stack pretty much just waltzed right into battle without any prior recon.

Our game is a modified scenario called DaBigBabes, and we're playing a variant that includes among other things, stacking limits so some of the stuff you'll see in this AAR can't be found in the stock scenarios. You can follow the link below to find out more about the mod (we're playing DaBigBabes-C), the extended map we're using (look under AE Extended Map) and the stacking limits (look under AE stack limits) DaBigBabes site

You can also check out the screen shot below of turn 1 of a DBB-C game showing Bataan and it's stacking limits.

Status of Force Z as follows BB Prince of Wales CA Houston CL Danae CL Durban DD Edsall Have picked up 2 more DDs from Darwin, Peary and John D. Ford and are heading south for a yard big enough to take PoW for her Jan '42 refit.

The other 4 DDs of the original screen (with their sys/flt/eng damage levels) will pull into Darwin on the next turn with near empty bunkers but very much alive, managed put out their fires and dodge some very angry IJN DDs. Bulmer - 38/27/17 Paul Jones - 35/31/19 Electra - 39/17/18 Express - 40/8/14

So the net loss is still only Alden from the original engagement.

My avatar is the divisional patch of the British 1st Airborne Division, you know, those crazy Brits who stormed a bridge in Holland in a town of which the name escapes me for the moment and tried to hold it against German armor with nothing but rifles and umbrellas?

Keep those questions coming, I'll do my best to answer them unless it violates OPSEC

Super response Arnhem - muchos gratzias. I had forgotten that the hex stacking limit was a DBB initiative. Seems like a great idea to increase the realism of the game. Bravo on the Force Z survival. I never expected those 1920's era four stackers to survive heavy fires/heavy damage. British DDs seem to be pretty tough - Kelly survived torpedo hits on both stem and stern! Where can I get one of those anti-tank umbrellas! Might be useful in city traffic.

Edit - to add the word "stem" .

< Message edited by BBfanboy -- 3/30/2012 2:35:01 PM >

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I have not yet begun to fight! OTOH I have not yet begun to flee. Hmmmmm - choices, choices -always with the choices.

DEI Two turns ago, two IJN light SAGs were seen coming down the Makassar Strait, they carried on down the south of Bali into the Indian Ocean looking for things to kill and found and killed the very last group of merchant ships from Java on their return loop. Swordfish out of Soerabaja launched torps over the AM and PM pulses but nothing connected, pity.